Along an assembly line, various types of articles, such as diapers and other absorbent articles, may be assembled by adding components to and otherwise modifying an advancing, continuous web of material. In some processes, advancing webs of material are combined with other advancing webs of material. In other processes, individual components created from advancing webs of material are combined with advancing webs of material, which in turn, are then combined with other advancing webs of material. Webs of material and component parts used to manufacture diapers may include: backsheets, topsheet, absorbent cores, front and/or back ears, fastener components, and various types of elastic webs and components such as leg elastics, barrier leg cuff elastics, and waist elastics. Once the desired component parts are assembled, the advancing web or webs and component parts are subjected to a final cut to separate the web or webs into discrete diapers or other absorbent articles. The discrete diapers or absorbent articles may also then be folded and packaged.
Some processes are configured to advance substrates on a rotating drum, and, in particular, to advance elastic substrates in a stretched state on the drum. The elastic substrate may be cut into discrete lengths of elastic substrate while advancing on the drum. Sometimes, the drum may include anvils for cutting the substrate while advancing on the drum. In some processes, the drum may include a vacuum system to hold the discrete lengths of elastic substrate in a stretched state on the drum. The drum may be configured for processing a particular size discrete length of elastic substrate. For example, anvils may be spaced circumferentially at predetermined distances around the drum for cutting the substrate into discrete lengths of elastic substrate of a predetermined size. In addition, the drum may include vacuum apertures configured to maintain stretch in a discrete length of elastic substrate of a predetermined size. Such drums may not be adaptable to or reconfigurable to accept more than one size discrete length of elastic substrate. As such, it may be necessary to change drums on an assembly line in order to process discrete lengths of elastic substrate of different sizes. For example, the size of a drum may increase as the size of the discrete lengths of elastic substrate increase. In turn, as the size of the drum increases, the mass may increase and so may the cost to manufacture the drum or drums. Additionally, a production line configured for one size drum may have to be reconfigured in order to operate in conjunction with a different size drum, which may include moving or replacing equipment. The process of replacing drums and reconfiguring the production line can be time consuming and labor intensive. Due to the size and mass of the drum, additional labor and/or mechanical assistance may be required to change the drums.
It may be desirable to provide a drum capable of processing discrete lengths of elastic substrate of various sizes, while maintaining the overall dimensions of the drum.